The Search for a Weapon Partner (Finished)

Jeremy yelped when he saw the flames on his trouser leg. They boy dived to the floor and rolled to extinguish the flames, but the damage had already been done. The trousers were ruined. The weapon cursed at himself and left the apartment to grab an extinguisher. Once he had one in his grasp, he felt more confident about putting out the flames. He charged back into the room, spraying the foam on all he could in a fruitless attempt to save the apartment. Jeremy managed to extinguish some of the flames, but nearly the entire room was damaged beyond repair. Including the console that had become a molten blob of plastic. The boy whimpered at the sight, and became even more distressed when he saw the inferno that was the couch. It's gonna take a lot of money to fix this...

Just outside the apartment, a familiar sorcerer sat. He found himself in a plastic chair with a pair of binoculars. "Well well well, it appears that our friend's apartment has gone a blaze hasn't it?" He spoke to himself and rubbed the back of his neck. "What a shame, I'm certain Jeremiah would blame it on me if I went in to help... people are strange aren't they?..." Suhas trailed off and sighed. "Maybe you should try and make friends with someone else..." he spoke to a puppet-replica of himself. "Maybe there's an attractive sorceress in this city, that would be much better, yes?" He chuckled and stood up.

The fire extinguisher ran out, and Jeremy began to panic. "Bloody hell! How can I run out of extinguisher foam? There couldn't have been that much fire!" The weapon shouted and threw the extinguisher out the window in frustration. The worst of the flames were still there, surrounding the kitchen and originating from the powered-up stove/oven. Jeremy was beginning to become light-headed and breathing was becoming too difficult to stand. He had been burned on many parts of his body; his left leg was burned from the previous incident and most of his real arm was also red. Even his face had been damaged. His arm was scorched to a black already, so he had to do something before this place burned to the ground. He grabbed a conveniently untouched cardboard box and headed towards Shizu's room.

The more Suhas denied the fact that Jeremiah needed assistance the more he felt the need to go and help him. He sorcerer had decided after talking to his puppet for a few minites and sighed. "Ah screw it." He put on a gasmask that he conveniently had among his collection of random things. Within a few seconds, he had jumped onto the balcony and entered the burning building. He squinted and cleared his throat before knocking on the door that led to where the weapon was. "Knock knock, anyone home?"

Jeremy groaned from the bedroom. It's not what you think. He had been packing Shizu's things away into boxes, but the smoke, heat and burns combined were too much for him to handle and he had collapsed on the floor. "Oh my god, leave me alone." The weapon wheezed, probably not loud enough for the sorcerer to hear. He continuously attempted to get to his feet again, determined to save at least a box full of Shizu's beloved possessions. Jeremy began to crawl on all fours while dragging the box behind him, but flames had engulfed the door. Bloody great...

Suhas shook his head and replied,"Tsk, tsk. You are very ungrateful sometimes, Jeremiah, it hurts my feelings." The sorcerer grabbed a fire-extiguisher he had 'borrowed' from a different building before he had began to watch the building burning from the outside in case he actually did decide to help out. How convinent. He then made it a game to put out the most flames in a certain amount of time and cheered when he won considering he was the only one playing... what a lunatic. "Oh, anyway Jeremy-dearest... You look like you need a hand." Without saying much else, the sorcerer kicked the door open.

The splinters of the door flew through the air. It was pure luck Jeremy wasn't blinded. "I don't need your bloody help, sorcerer!" Jeremy wheezed, suffering severe smoke inhalation was not fun. The weapon continued to crawl towards the door with the box of Shizu's belongings in his arms. "Did you at least turn off the stove...? 'Cause if you didn't, this is bloody pointless..." Jeremy went into a coughing got when he finished 'speaking'. "Just get out, man... At least I don't want your bloody face to be the last thing I see..."

Suhas rolled his eyes and took off his gas-mask before putting it on Jeremy. "That's a bit selfish, what about your meister? Don't you have to protect her from idiots like me?" The sorcerer snapped his fingers and a gas was released into the mask that's purpose was to knock the weapon out so Suhas could get him out of the building more easily.

Jeremy began to panic even more and his hands clamped to his face. "What're you doing?! Get this thing off me! Get it-Get it off!" He could already feel himself becoming weaker, but that didn't stop the weapon from continuing to attempt to pry the mask off of him. No! This stupid bloody sorcerer will ruin everything! He was slowly getting weaker and weaker, and somehow he knew there was no way he would ever get this mix of rubber and plastic off his face. "You... Bastard..." The boy said, needing to take a deep breath between words. He was barely even conscious now.

"Hush, hush stop your struggle please." Suhas rolled his eyes and picked up the hardly concious weapon and the box filled with Shizu's possessions. Getting scorched in the process, the sorcerer leapt out of the opening that led to the balcony and onto the next building over. "Okay, noe the fire." He muttered and returned inside to extiguish whatever flames he could.

The boy had fallen into unconsciousness, despite his greatest efforts to stay awake. He dreamt of fire. Oh, was there fire. He was covered in flames, and could see his meister also covered in flames. And he when he screamed the fire leapt into his mouth and seemed to boil his insides, as it also did to his imaginary meister. "No! No no no no no no no!" He repeated the words in his mind until he seed to be a pile of ash. It was at that moment, in a dream of the inferno, he realised two things. One was he was now Pyro-phobic.

It took a lot of effort, but eventually Suhas was able to suppress a percentage of the flames. It was hard but the sorcerer was able to find some entertainment in it at the least. "I hope Jeremiah doesn't wake up and try anything." He muttered and continued on his heroic quest to conquer the flames.

The flames were too much for Jeremy to stand any longer. The boy forced himself into consciousness and tore the ridiculous mask off his face. The boy coughed for a few minutes, getting some of the gas/smoke out of his lungs, then slowly staggered to his feet. Bloody hell... That bastard sorcerer knocked me out! Like any normal person, Jeremy was pretty pissed about being knocked out. But he was too weak to hunt the sorcerer. So instead, he grabbed the box, went down the stairs of the building he was now on and collapsed in front of the firemen that had arrived in front of Shizu's apartment building. The painful burns, the smoke inhalation, the prospect of his meister reacting to this situation, everything. He had been completely drained. "Could you guys do me a favour and call an ambulance...?"

After  a few moments of try-hard firefighting, Suhas began becomings more dehydrated from the dry air and more fatigued as his efforts began waning. The more flames he put to death, the hotter the room became. His usually brilliant yellow eyes were cloudy and his face covered with ash. "Well Suhas... I guess this wasn't... your best idea." He whispered after having a coughing fit. He might be powerful, but no one is immortal.

Luckily for Jeremy, there was an ambulance on stand-by. A female doctor rushed towards the dehydrated and scorched weapon. "We need a stretcher over here! Stat!" The doctor turned to look at the boy. "Are you alright?! Why were you in there?!" Which Jeremy responded to with a coughing fit and several wheezing noises. The doctor was confused until he pointed to the box he had taken with him, which the doctor inspected closer. Seeing the pictures and other feminine items in the box, the doctor smiled, reassuringly. "There's always a girl, isn't there? Don't worry, you'll be seeing her again in no time."  Jeremy would have argued, but considering what he'd been through, he didn't have the energy. They lifted him onto the stretcher and rolled him into the ambulance, trying to give him as much water as possible before they got to the hospital.

Suhas managed to crawl onto the balcony before nearly passing out. The sorcerer wheezed and coughed violently while leaning on the railing of the stairs that led down to the alley below. To his luck, there were firefighters close by that were trying to save the building from collapsing and were able to spot Suhas before he was lost to the flames. While he was unconscious, he was loaded up into an ambulance and transported to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Shizu had fallen asleep but was bombarded with the worst of images. Flames everywhere. She woke up in a cold sweat and hugged he knees, her eyes wide and staring blankly at the wall.

He was conscious the whole way to the hospital. They had attached a respirator to his face to assist in his breathing, for smoke inhalation is no picnic. His face burned, his lungs burned, and the burn on his chest... Well, burned. But apart from smoke inhalation, burns, dehydration and heatstroke, he was fine. The doctors rolled him into the burn ward and treated the burns before anything else. Luckily, they weren't as permanent as the first one. His lungs were severely damaged, for he was never taught about fire safety, even with a weapon form like his. It's not like he went to school to learn these things. The heatstroke and dehydration was simply an inconvenience for the doctors, and nothing more. But as he was recovering he over heard them saying he may need permanent breathing assistance. He would have swallowed, but that was too painful.

Shizu looked at the clock and sees that it was extremely late... well technically it was extremely early. The meister decided to sneak into the cafeteria and get something from the vending machines since she was starving and already polished off the caramels. When she snuck out of her room she pictured she was a prison-escapee and was trying to find a way out. As she walked down the halls in her slippers a man on a gurney being rushed into the hospital caught her eye. There was no way... "Suhas...? What the...?" she stuttered and followed the gurney. All the sorcerer was saying was that Jeremy... Jeremy something. "You're... not making any sense!" Shizu grew more panicked and grew wide-eyed.

Jeremy awoke from a brief moment if sleep, too afraid of what nightmare his mind might conjure up if he did sleep. The doctors constantly told him to rest while they were treating his burns, but he refused. "Please, Mr. Rukin, you need to rest! Please don't make us sedate you even more." Said the doctor treating his wounds. Jeremy shook his head defiantly, not liking the dreams that came to him when sedated. "No... Please don't put me under... I can take it." He pleaded the doctor, but he just shook his head and walked to a large tank of gas, then proceeded to turn the valve. Jeremy sobbed into the mask, preparing for the inevitable nightmare that was to come. "Please... No! No!No!" he continued to object and struggle, but they simply just held him down until he would eventually be put under.

"It's... true, lass. You're weapon is a bit burned right now...as we speak he's getting patched up." Suhas explained as the meister followed alongside him. "Thanks fir the info, get better soon... okay?" she told him and started walking around the hospital for any sign of the weapon. To her luck, she bumped into the burn-care ward and talked to the woman at the front desk asking for Jeremy Rukin."Ah, yes, he's currently being operated on." the woman replied and gestured towards the door. Shizu looked at it without blinking and sat on a chair closest to it. It's going to be okay, Jeremy... I promise.

Tears were rolling down the weapons cheeks when they strapped him entirely to the operating table. Then they did something weird. The doctors just left. But when they left, a fire sprung up underneath Jeremy's operating table and was reaching just hug enough the burn around the edges of his frame. But the fire simply spread around the room and eventually onto the chair. He was being burned alive from the flames reaching the area of the table underneath him. The boy tried to scream, but he couldn't because of the gaseous chemicals being pumped into his mouth. Instead if the gas that knocks you out flowing into his lungs, the tank was now filled with smoke. Being pushed directly into his respiratory system. He screamed and struggled until he was engulfed in flames, but finally managed to wake himself up from the nightmare that was knock-out gas. The doctors were shocked by this incredible feat of pure willpower.

Shizu heared the struggle and began to panick, What's going on in there that's causing such a racket? Perhaps there were complications?... Wait, complications?! The meister feared the worst was happening to her partner and she wouldn't stand idly on the sidelines as they conducted inhumane experiments on him. Before the woman at the desk had a chance to react, Shizu dashed into the operating room. "What's going on in here!?" She yelled, feeling over-protective of her weapon and dear friend.

Tears stung at his eyes again. "I dint want to go back under! Don't make me!" The operators actually had bound his limbs, in fear of what he would do if he wasn't. He struggled with the bonds with all his might, but there was going to be no miraculous escape this time. In a act of desperation, he jerked his head to the meister. "Please, Shizu! Tell them! Tell them I can't go back under!" The boy pleaded, slipping back into unconsciousness against his will. "I'll do anything... Any-" He broke into a very painful coughing fit due to his lung damage and he jerked around the operating table.

Shizu exchanged a few words with the doctors and glanced at the struggling weapon every now and again. When she saw that she wasn't getting anywhere, the meister took it upon herself to take care of him. After pulling a chair up next to him, the petite girl took a hold of Jeremy's hand snd spoke softly. "Hey, have you not realized how far we've gotten? We've already taken down a kishin egg, monster, brawled with a powerful sorcerer and lived. I don't think a little nightmare could change that, could it? I'll be here the whole time. But I cant let them operate on you when you can feel all of the real pain, okay? I'll owe you one."

Jeremy breathed heavily inside the mask while his meister spoke. "But… But I can't… I can't take it! Every dream I have is filled with fire, and I can't take it! Please Shizu, please!" He pleaded his meister to stop…Well, anything. The fear was obvious in his voice while he spoke. "I'm not strong enough to handle it…" Jeremy saw his pleading was getting him nowhere and took a deep, painful breath. He looked his meister in the eye. "You swear you'll be right here? Really?" The boy still had tears in his eyes, giving the allusion of an innocent kid.